75th Anniversary of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Expected to Attract Over 1 Million People – Could Cause Problems for City

It's one big reason why people from all over the world come to South Dakota the first week of August, and city officials in Sturgis are expecting it to be bigger than ever next year. The 75th Anniversary of the annual Sturgis Rally is expected to attract more than 1 million people next summer, and with all the people, additional problems.

Because it will be the 75th Anniversary of the Sturgis Rally, even more people are expected to celebrate and descend on Sturgis, South Dakota, August 3rd through August 9th, 2015. And with the increase of people, Sturgis city officials have already begun discussing how the city is going to handle the additional traffic that is expected.

One option would be to reconfigure the way traffic flows in downtown Sturgis, but local downtown businesses are concerned that changing the traffic flow would affect any possible customers.

Another option would have the city closing down Main Street before the rally even begins. City officials are aware that closing Main Street might cause problems for residents and businesses, but would also be difficult because there would be a need for additional police officers.

The Sturgis City Council will continue to look at options in upcoming meetings.